- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Israel bombs Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after wave of deadly blasts
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Equity markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Equity markets, yen rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
- All Blacks primed for 'hell' of a Wallabies clash
- Japan firm says no longer makes radio reportedly used in Lebanon blasts
- Zoom fatigue? Try some nature in your background: study
- Boeing to start large-scale furloughs with Seattle strike talks stalled
- Japan walkie-talkie maker says investigating after Lebanon blasts
CMSC | -0.18% | 25.01 | $ | |
BCC | 3.98% | 142.745 | $ | |
AZN | 0.58% | 79.035 | $ | |
SCS | -7.3% | 13.15 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.08% | 25 | $ | |
BP | 2.25% | 33.175 | $ | |
BTI | -0.53% | 37.68 | $ | |
NGG | -2.08% | 68.625 | $ | |
GSK | -1.05% | 41.99 | $ | |
RYCEF | 5.48% | 6.93 | $ | |
JRI | -0.45% | 13.38 | $ | |
BCE | -0.44% | 35.455 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
VOD | -1.78% | 10.051 | $ | |
RIO | 3.84% | 65.425 | $ | |
RELX | 1.25% | 47.97 | $ |
Stephen Breyer: pragmatic pillar of US Supreme Court
Stephen Breyer, the oldest justice on the US Supreme Court and the senior member of the bench's liberal-leaning wing, boasts a record of pragmatism in the hundreds of opinions he has authored in his long career.
The bespectacled California native, aged 83, was nominated to the nation's highest court by Democratic former president Bill Clinton, and US media reported Wednesday that he plans to retire at the end of the current term in June.
He has spent more than 25 years on the nine-member bench, which towards the end of his tenure has firmly leaned to the right of the political spectrum.
But being in the minority has not dimmed his jovial nature or passion for the work of the court. Breyer has insisted in his rulings on assessing real-world implications when deciding cases, rejecting the strict reading of the Constitution favored by some of his peers.
Breyer -- who carries an annotated copy of the Constitution with him in his jacket pocket -- is a fierce opponent of the death penalty, and has ruled in favor of abortion rights, same-sex marriage and environmental protection.
He has bristled at the notion of partisanship on the court.
"My experience of more than 30 years as a judge has shown me that, once men and women take the judicial oath, they take the oath to heart," he said in a 2021 lecture at Harvard Law School, his alma mater.
"They are loyal to the rule of law, not to the political party that helped to secure their appointment."
- From Harvard to high court -
Born on August 15, 1938 in San Francisco, Breyer was educated at Stanford, Oxford and Harvard -- a prestigious academic career that challenged his keen intellect.
He began his legal career in 1964 as a clerk to then-Supreme Court justice Arthur Goldberg and then spent time working in the Justice Department on antitrust matters, before serving as an assistant special prosecutor on Watergate in 1973.
He taught at Harvard University until 1980, when he got the nod from then-president Jimmy Carter to serve on the federal court of appeals in Boston, where he remained for more than a decade, eventually becoming its chief judge.
Breyer was initially considered for a Supreme Court spot in 1993, but his candidacy was marred by a revelation that he had failed to pay taxes for a part-time housekeeper.
A year later, he became Clinton's second nominee to the high court, after Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The pair would end up shoring up the liberal-progressive wing of the court for more than two decades.
- 'Not my job' -
Upon Joe Biden's arrival in the Oval Office, Breyer found himself drawn into a perennial discussion when the White House changes hands -- should older justices retire when a president of their own political persuasion takes office?
Biden's predecessor Donald Trump had appointed three justices to the Supreme Court, sealing a 6-3 right-leaning majority.
But Breyer has repeatedly decried injecting politics into the court, and did not answer the call from liberals to leave his lifetime appointment to ensure a like-minded replacement.
"If the public sees judges as politicians in robes, its confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself, can only diminish, diminishing the court's power," he said in 2021.
In an interview with AFP in 2016, Breyer -- who is a Francophile and speaks fluent French -- refused even to say what qualities an ideal candidate for the court would possess.
"I can't suggest who the president should appoint. It's not my job," Breyer said.
"Asking me a question about who should be appointed or how that process works is like asking for the recipe for chicken a la king from the point of view of the chicken," he quipped.
Breyer is married to psychologist Joanna Hare, a member of the British aristocracy. They have three children.
K.Thomson--BTB